Increase in Combat Asset Operation Rate
Parts Repaired in One Week
Army Maintenance Depot Scheduled for Delivery
DN Solutions, the world's third-largest machine tool company, announced on the 18th that the additive and subtractive hybrid machining tool (metal 3D printer) delivered last year has become an essential item for maintaining key naval combat assets within just one year.
The 3D printer team at the Naval Maintenance Depot in Jinhae, Gyeongnam, has been directly producing over 6,000 non-metallic parts of more than 600 types using 3D printers from 2017 to 2023. Then, in July last year, by introducing DN Solutions' metal 3D printer, they were able to directly manufacture and repair metal parts using additive manufacturing methods.
DN Solutions' metal 3D printer applies Directed Energy Deposition (DED) technology, enabling both additive manufacturing and multi-axis subtractive machining processes to be performed on a single device, thereby enhancing precision and quality. This equipment is utilized for maintaining key combat assets such as Aegis destroyers, significantly reducing maintenance time and procurement costs.
Navy Maintenance Depot officer Choi Kwang-yong is performing maintenance tasks using DN Solutions' metal 3D printer. [Photo by DN Solutions]
Lee Yong-jin, the head of the 3D printer team at the Naval Maintenance Depot, stated, "For some parts, sending them to headquarters in the U.S. or Germany for repairs used to take over a year to complete, but now, using additive manufacturing methods, repairs can be finished in about a week." Due to this achievement, the 3D printer team at the Naval Maintenance Depot received the Minister of National Defense Award at the 3rd 3D Printing Competition award ceremony held last June.
DN Solutions has also secured orders for another metal 3D printer from the Army Maintenance Depot, with plans to deliver it by the end of this year.
Due to the unique nature of military combat assets involving small-batch, multi-variety production, procuring parts has been challenging until now. This has prolonged maintenance periods and lowered the operational rate of combat assets. In response, since 2012, the Ministry of National Defense has introduced industrial 3D printers centered on each military maintenance depot to build infrastructure capable of producing combat equipment parts in-house.
Currently, 3D printers are being expanded and distributed even to maintenance units at the level of logistics support brigades. The Ministry of National Defense analyzes that from 2015 to 2023, a total of 66,871 parts were produced in-house, saving approximately 6.5 billion KRW in budget.
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